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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29826618">Pickle Juice</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlewerewolftori13/pseuds/littlewerewolftori13'>littlewerewolftori13</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Trek</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Everyone Is Gay, M/M, Ran it through grammarly but not betad, Tumblr Prompt, art store au, just a silly little fic, pickle juice is spilled</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 20:34:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,787</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29826618</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlewerewolftori13/pseuds/littlewerewolftori13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The prompt used was a couple of photos of a text exchange reading (something like): Customer spilled pickle juice on the floor.<br/>You work in an art store?<br/>They brought their own.<br/>Basically Spock smitten over Jim while wondering how he can be such a fucking himbo.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James T. Kirk &amp; Leonard "Bones" McCoy, James T. Kirk/Spock, Spock &amp; Nyota Uhura</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>38</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Pickle Juice</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Hey, uh-,“ Spock closed his eyes momentarily as a customer approached him while he was looking over inventory sheets, obviously busy. “Man, I’m sorry to interrupt, but I spilled pickle juice in the other aisle.” </p><p>At that, Spock’s eyes popped open, alert and shifting to glare at the customer. It was the tall, blonde man that frequented the corner table at his store. </p><p>He’d been coming to use the table a couple of days every week for about two months now, and he always managed to make some sort of mess or bother Spock, though his coworkers said it was “sweet” that he always made time to talk to Spock. </p><p>He was obviously an art student at a nearby college, though why he chose to frequent this store rather than the more popular nearby cafes escaped Spock. He was a more extroverted individual, what with how he talked with all of Spock’s coworkers and even brought friends with him sometimes. </p><p>“How.” He demanded. The blonde man sheepishly pulled a jar of pickles out of his messenger bag. Spock stared at the jar for a few seconds before turning to lean down and grab some cleaning supplies behind the counter. There was a strangled noise behind him as he bent down, but he ignored it since it didn’t seem to be an explanation of any sort. </p><p>As Spock began to walk towards the aisles, the man falling in alongside him to point out the spill, he glanced at the man again, making sure he had put the pickles away before reluctantly asking for more information. He was sure he would regret asking.</p><p>“Why.” </p><p>Slightly startled, the blonde man turned to face him, his incredibly blue eyes managing to flash even in the fluorescent lights. Spock would know; he had spent some time contemplating what paint or pencil would best capture the pure hue he’d see whenever he’d catch the man’s eyes on accident. </p><p>“Oh, why the pickles? This will sound dumb, but a friend got me some and said they’d work for fast cramp relief. He’s always trying to peddle some natural medicine on me, says that the reason I’m a walking medical disaster is cause I spent too much time in hospitals as a kid. Something about my natural systems being suppressed.” </p><p>Just as Spock had suspected, asking a simple question had garnered a torrent of unnecessary information. Thankfully, his mother had similar interests as this friend, so Spock had some previous knowledge built on the subject. He squatted down as they reached the spill, starting to mop it up with a rag.</p><p>“Many of what is considered natural or alternative medicines have come from generations of trial and error and were passed down in oral tradition. It wasn’t until recently that these methods were considered illogical and backward in our history. This was mostly brought on by European colonialism and capitalism.” He said, feeling the same frustration his mother’s voice held whenever she spoke on the subject.</p><p>“Wow, uh.” Spock glanced up at the change of tone, only seeing the blonde looking down at him, mouth slightly open. Nothing out of the usual there. “You know a lot about it, like normally Bones makes it a lecture, but you sound. I don’t know, passionate about it.” </p><p>Bones was obviously the friend who gave him the jar of pickles, Spock noted with a hint of irritation that he quickly smothered. It was illogical to blame this ‘Bones’ for the blonde taking pickles into his art store. </p><p>“It’s an area of interest to some members of my family. Trust me; I’ve been on your end of my fair share of lectures on it.” He stood up, finished with wiping up the spill. He hesitated for a moment as he stood before the blonde. They had never gone out of their way to speak to each other, but he didn’t want to let this opportunity go. He had already let so many possibly significant moments in his life pass that, for some reason, the thought of not even getting this man’s name seemed too much to take. </p><p>“I am Spock, as I’m sure you are aware.” He said, gesturing to his name tag.</p><p>“Oh, yeah, I guess we’ve never been introduced officially! I’m Jim.”</p><p>“It’s nice to meet you, Jim. Will you never spill pickle juice in my store again?”</p><p>Jim flushed to the roots of his hair. “Yeah, of course.”</p><p>Spock started making his way back to the front of the store, Jim trailing him in embarrassed silence. He stifled a sigh; his teasing had flopped, awkward small talk it was.</p><p>“Nyota tells me you’re studying at the art school nearby. How has your experience been so far?” </p><p>There was a moment of silence before Jim answered.</p><p>“Is ‘Nyota’ Uhura’s first name?” Spock glanced at Jim’s face, seeing the look of wide-eyed joy that he glimpsed so often when the man was talking to others. He tried to ignore that the sight of it turned towards him was making his cheeks heat in what he was sure was a very undignified fashion. </p><p>“It is.” He said curtly, narrowing his eyes at the random change of subject.</p><p>“Oh man, she’s gonna be so pissed at you if she figures out you told me,” Jim said with a huge grin. “What can you offer me so I don’t sic your girlfriend on you?”</p><p>“As Nyota is not my partner, you have no blackmail to hold over me,” Spock said primly. “Although, for your sake, if she hasn’t given you her first name, I wouldn’t use it. She has many ways of making you regret going against her wishes.”</p><p>“Yeah, you got me there,” Jim said, still chuckling a bit. “You guys talk about me, though? It’s sweet that you remembered it; I told her that a while ago. I have enjoyed being at the school, but it’s the proximity of the city that I’ve enjoyed the most. I grew up in rural Iowa, so this is a big change for me. It’s one of the reasons I like this store so much; it’s a bit of calm amongst the chaos.”</p><p>Spock took his time to respond to the detailed response. He used the pause to put away the cleaner and towel below the counter again. </p><p>“Yes, Nyota likes to keep me updated on the social aspects of the store, which I am happy to take a step back from. I’m glad you enjoy the school; I graduated from there as well. I moved here when my family immigrated. I feel like I’ll never be used to such a high concentration of people, but there were more possibilities for me here, and I’ve also come to enjoy certain aspects. I am glad that you enjoy the atmosphere of the store; it’s something I worked very hard on.” Spock finished with a hint of pride in his voice. Many people called his store ‘boring’ because he wouldn’t play loud modern music, so he was glad someone other than him was appreciating it. </p><p>“It must have been a lot of hard work, but you’ve got a good place for yourself here; that’s awesome. I didn’t know that you used to go to my school! Though it’s starting to make sense, with the whole art,” he gestured widely to the rest of the store. “Uhh- thing.” He finished awkwardly, having just noticed with his turn that Uhura was standing close enough to need to duck his wildly gesturing hands. “Oh, uhh. Hey Nyot-uh! Uhura, I meant Uhura!” </p><p>She rolled her eyes with a grimace and turned to glare at Spock, who glared back at the interruption. </p><p>“I’m glad you’re finally getting time to talk to your boyfriend, but I thought I would remind you that you did say I could clock out early today, and you will have to work at some point during the afternoon.” </p><p>Spock flushed at being caught out but steadied himself. </p><p>“I hope you have an enjoyable evening, Nyota; I’m sure I’ll persevere without you. Somehow.” He finished dryly. </p><p>“You would fail without me, and don’t you forget it,” Nyota said, beaming and leaning over the counter to press a quick kiss to his cheek. With a short, “I’ll see you tomorrow,” she was off to clock out. </p><p>“You guys have such a cute relationship. Are you sure you’re not dating?” Jim said as soon as she was out of hearing range. </p><p>“If this is an attempt to ascertain if I’m single, I assure you I am,” Spock said, wondering if the blush he could feel on his cheeks would ever leave. Though, seeing Jim in a similar predicament helped cool his embarrassment over how brazen he was acting.</p><p>“Oh, you are? That’s great! Or, I mean. Maybe I could- oh hell.” Jim covered his eyes with one hand as he slumped dramatically against the counter. “This could be going better.”</p><p>“It could be.” Spock acknowledged with a smile. Jim looked up, and they grinned goofily at each other for a moment before Jim took a deep breath.</p><p>“So, what I meant to say, to ask really, is if you’d be interested in going on a date. With me?”</p><p>Spock took a deep breath, trying to keep his cool, trying to see if he could be cool.</p><p>“I find that to be an agreeable suggestion. And… since it’s a slow day anyway, and you owe me for spilling pickle juice from a jar of pickles that you brought to an art store… if you help me close the store, we could leave now. For our date.” Spock managed to get the whole statement out, wondering for a second if his teasing would be too much. However, as soon as the words were out, Jim was beaming. </p><p>“Yes, of course! Lay on, Macduff! Just tell me what I should do, and I’ll see what’s available for tonight’s entertainment.” Jim swung his messenger bag off, setting it on the counter as Spock came around the side to begin the closing process. </p><p>Jim began sweeping the floors, and Spock watched him for a moment, amazed that this beautiful man could be so charming and easygoing, and yet when Spock turned to flip the door sign to closed, he spotted the jar of pickles slowly rolling out of Jim’s bag. He rushed to grab it and stood it up so it wouldn’t fall onto the floor. So, so pretty and capable, and yet so very, very dumb. Spock shook his head at the jar in bemusement before going to flip the sign to closed. Regardless of what brought them to talk to each other finally, he was excited to see how the evening went.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>There are a lot of Concepts™ that I drop in this fic with no other explanation because they’re just what I think about with no connection to what I was writing, but if anyone wants to talk about something I mention, hmu!<br/>That being said, I can’t believe I actually wrote this fic! Got the idea a few days ago and just pounded it out, which was great! That being said, I ran it through grammarly but I didn’t even try to find someone to beta it, so if it’s a bit messy, that’s all on me Bay Bee 💜<br/>Let me know what you think 😁💜!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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